Since the initial report of field induced oxidation of silicon surfaces with a scanning tunneling microscope by Dagata et al. in 1990,1 numerous methods of silicon surface modification via scanning probe microscopy have been reported. Fabrication of sensor arrays,2,3 lithography patterns,4-6 and etch masks7 via mechanical scribing,8 dip-pen nanolithography,9 and field induced oxidation (FIO) with an atomic force microscope (AFM)10,11 have all been achieved. Beyond these applications, numerous mechanisms for the FIO process have been suggested.5,12-16 Among these mechanisms, most reports agree that the oxidation rate is limited by various electrochemical reactions in the water meniscus that all initiate from charge injection from the probe into the meniscus.
Thus, although it was expected that schemes for influencing the charge injection rate may be exploited for the control of FIO nanopatterning, no practical method was discovered yet.
Therefore, a heretofore unaddressed need exists in the art to address the aforementioned deficiencies and inadequacies.